2000AD 1549 - 8 August 07

Cover by Richard Elson

Steven Denton : Getting the obvious out of the way first, Blake’s left arm seems to have abandoned his body and shot off behind him at a very odd angel. Other then that it’s a fairly boring stock image. It’s not a particularly eye catching or energetic composition of a particularly unoriginal pose almost competently executed but with that rouge hand distracting the eye.  

Richmond Clements : It’s a bit ‘meh’ this one. I’m a big fan of Elson’s work, but I did not recognise this cover as one of his and had to look on the credits page to see who’d drawn it.

Oh it’s nicely done and all that, but pretty generic. And there’s  the question of just what Blake’s left hand is doing.

Charles Ellis: The second Greysuit cover was always going to have lots to live up to after that brilliant “Primal Scream!” one, but this doesn’t really work. Surely Blake should be punching someone rather than a window? Richard Elson’s a good action artist, give him some action. 

Cycle of Violence Script: Robbie Morrison Art: Cliff Robinson Colours: Chris Blythe Letters: Annie Parkhouse

Klein loses it...

Synopsis: Judge Klein was first brought into the judicial programme after Judge Dredd killed his homicidal father. Klein excelled until other students found out about his past and pushed his head down the toilet. Klein later beat them unconscious - but managed to avoid a reprimand for the incident. He became a judge and built himself a good reputation - although was occasionally accused of excessive force - but he was never properly punished for it.

The breaking point came with the death of a slabwalker, Maxine Quinn. Her husband was assumed to be the guilty party, but Klein couldn't prove it. When another slabwalker went missing, Klein decided to beat the confession out of Quinn. Dredd stormed the apartment after the neighbours reported the noise - telling him that they had arrested the real killer. Dredd gets ready to take him in - but Klein turns his gun on him - Dredd opens fire...

SD: The artwork is probably Cliff Robinson's most consistent strip art to date, no stiff figures, no quirky facial expressions of funny poses, no bald men in skin tight yellow leggings. More like this please Cliff, much more.

Cycle of Violence is well executed in a number of ways and it’s basically a familiar story well told. The framing device is effective and bookends the story nicely leaving the feeling of a completed whole. The caption heavy narrative is clear, well written and well placed so your eye is never lost amongst the mass of boxes. The characterisation is solid if unoriginal with an emotional authenticity and consistency that helps you to accept the pay off line and leaves you with the desired emotional punch. 

There is an important distinction between the plot of a story and the point. Without a point, stories degenerate into a series of excuses for conflict with at best a good guys v bad guys premise, hardly an engaging reason to read a comic. Most of all I like Cycle of Violence for having a point not just a plot. There is conflict but the story is not just an excuse for conflict. The point of the story is that violence only teaches violence. The plot is about a judge who beats a man half to death to get back at his father.

RC: In all modesty, I think I should take full credit for the art in this weeks strip. In my review of Prog 1538, I lauded Robinson’s cover and said Tharg should get him to draw a strip immediately. And here’s the result! Yes, there are those who my point out that this strip was undoubtedly commissioned many many months ago, and that Tharg doesn’t take his editorial advice from reviews posted here, but just give me this one, eh..?

But, back on to the subject at hand - this weeks Dredd. Folk do seem to have a problem with the Morrison Dredds, don’t they? Morrison is another of those writers where you can tick of a list of clichés when he’s writing - though in Morrison’s case, this only seems to apply to Dredd. And foremost on that list his the ‘crying child’. And there he is this week again!

Thing is though, I liked this story. I like Dredd strips that aren’t about Dredd, but about the city and the people that live there. Yeah, Morrison’s no Wagner, I hear you cry - but so what? Who is? I liked it.

Though I suppose it could be argued that my liking of this strip was helped in no small way by the art (my idea, remember). It really is far too long since Robinson drew a strip. His covers are awesome, but it’s all too easy to forget just how damned good a story teller he is. Check out the flawless figure drawing in the first couple of panels, as he nails the proportions perfectly, even from the awkward angle he’s given himself to draw from. Beautiful stuff.

And this strip hints at how good other thing I would like to see from the Mighty One could be - a strip set in the Academy of Law (not that I’m trying to tell you your job or anything Tharg, but I was right about Cliff Robinson…). 

CE: There’s often comments made that Robbie Morrison’s Dredds are a bit soppy, but between this, Prog 1538 and the Megazine’s Streetfighting Man, he’s showing he can do some really bleak and nasty stuff with Dredd’s world. The cyclical nature of the story, with Dredd beginning and ending the story by bursting in to shoot someone, works well and it’s extremely uncomfortable to see an abused child grow up to be the abuser. Good stuff. 

I, Jailbird - Part 5 Script: Alan Grant Art: Ian Gibson Letters: Annie Parkhouse

That's it. Call Mek Quake...

Synopsis: Sam decides to help Frenchie restore her "queendom". She heads off to France, leaving Stogie and Hoagie behind.

SD: Robo-hunter doesn’t appeal to me at all. As far as I can see there is no point to it. I think it’s meant to be funny but it’s never even made me smile. If it had been a one off story I probably wouldn’t even feel the need to comment on it but at the moment it keeps on coming back to fill in pages with a story I have no interest in. 

RC: And yet another series draws to a close. At least this one has a definite ending. But again, unfortunately, it ends with the promise of more to come. Ach, this is a shame. There’s enormous potential here, and I think, I large amount of good will. People love Robo-Hunter and love Alan Grant. However, the great man does seem to be churning this stuff out. Nothing happened during the last five weeks of this strip as far as I know, or at least, nothing I can really remember.

It ends kind of well though. France- surely a goldmine of comedy stereotype robots? Let’s hope so…

There’s a lot of speculation about the art droids on this strip- why did Gibson jump ship? Which does rather make the assumption that he did in the first place. He may, and indeed probably does, have a perfectly valid reason for not completing this strip, and it’s certainly something that is none of our bossiness, so I’d suggest that speculating on it is not something we should be doing.

Williams though, is a good choice of replacement. While I’m not a ‘fan’ of his style, I can appreciate it for what it is. And that splash panel on the final page is lovely. If Williams continues as main artist on the strip, I’d be quite happy- just as long as Grant manages to find his chops with the scripts again!

CE: It’s not as bad as with Greysuit, as the main plot of this story (Sam gets out of jail) has already been dealt with, but it’s still unsatisfying as it’s a bridge between stories rather than the end of a story. Worse, we know nothing about what the next story could be about except that it’s in France – hardly something to grab attention. Compare this to the previous story, which had quite a decisive end that still set-up the next one (Sam being turned into a fall-guy and arrested), and it doesn’t compare. That said, it’s nice to see Sam getting away from Stogie and Hoagie and off on her own. 

Project Monarch - Part 10 Script: Pat Mills Art: John Higgins Colours: JH & SJ Hurst Letters: Ellie De Ville

Except none of them actually seem to wear grey...

Synopsis: Blake flies to Bosnia and is confronted by another female greysuit. She appeared to be a delta class like him - so the fight was even. But Blake knows who she really is, Tanya Lateka, and breaks her programming. The fighting stops and Blake tells her that he's here to kill someone and wants her help...

SD: It’s like the bad old days are back again, the Mark Millar days, the all or nothing… ah you probably know the rest. This slight, sensationalist, clumsy and violent story has little to recommend about it. It’s like M.A.C.H 1 but with child abuse, sexual violence bestiality and political conspiracies that make little sense. Governments are evil, posh people are really evil, scientist are evil. Only Blake Knows The Truth and he’s rebelling against authority. Rage, Blake! Rage against the machine! Oh and guess what? It’s coming back. Why, Tharg WHY? 

RC: Whereas The 86ers was a great example of pacing, of tying plot threads and leaving intriguing cliff hangers, Greysuit isn’t. This one is an exercise in padding out to reach ten episodes and ends like there should be another page.

I make no apologies for disliking this strip immensely. And I don’t care if I’m accused of ‘Mills bashing’, whatever that is, because this is just badly written, plain and simple. As I’ve said before, the psychology presented is utter rubbish, from the most basic level up- if you’re going to try and ‘re-programme’ someone, then selecting a subject with a history of abuse is not the best place to start. Surely someone with a clean slate, at it where, would be easier to manipulate and less likely to have their programming break down?

In this weeks episode, we have to separate occasions where the plot makes no sense whatsoever. Why did the female agent make herself known to Blake at the hotel reception? Would it not be more logical if she’d not let on, reported in and then shot him in the back of the head. You know, like she could have in her room when she was standing in the dark, but decided to chat to him instead? And now we discover Omega class agents can turn invisible… Jesus. I’m no agent, but it does not take a huge leap of logic to figure out that if she was an Omega Agent and thus invisible, then it would not have been necessary to turn the lights off, would it?

Worse still, there’s the promise of more of this to come. Do you think Blake will actually get to the evil kiddie-fiddlers next series, or will Mills be able to string out another 10 weeks of psychobabble and comedy bestiality?

On the other hand- this series has some of the very best art I have seen in the comic in many years. Higgins is a master. His line work is second to none and the colouring is perfect. So it’s bizarre that part of me is looking forward to the return of the strip, if only to see more Higgins art.

CE: Ah. Oh dear.  

There’s one good thing about this, and that’s the hints that Blake’s boss Wood deliberately messed up Blake’s family and steered him towards being a Greysuit; that and Wood himself, who seems like a reasonable, normal chap (I like his annoyance over trying to get the new equipment) until you think what “I shall have to be there to console her” really means. 

There is, however, a major flaw in Part Ten of Project Monarch: it’s actually a Part One. Blake appears in Sarajevo, meets a new Greysuit (who wears skin-tight leather coz that’s what female secret agents do, of course) who can serve as an ally, and recaps his agenda and how Project Monarch makes assassins. It ends on what’d normally be the lead-in for the next part of the story. Everything about it says that this is the opening part for the next story, rather than the final part for the current one. Surely he should be doing something that feels like an end, like killing the Minister (why hasn’t he done that first?)? It’s just a complete misfire, this.

Grendel - Part 6 Script: Gordon Rennie Art: PJ Holden Colours: Eva De la Cruz Letters: Simon Bowland

Rafe gets ready to end things...

Synopsis: As the citadel is under attack, Rafe makes short work of the Grendel, proving that she's much more of a killing machine than it is. Rafe realises that the Grendel was after Stalov because he sold out his own people for freedom. However, she agrees to help Stalov escape from under the rocks - but only if he tells her everything about Friedkin on sub-17 - and helps her get in there. Later, the resident psychic tells Rafe that the attack was a "probing attack" to test defenses. And, true enough, Nort High Command appears to be focusing all its efforts towards Acoma station...

SD: I like something about P.J Holden’s artwork, I have never been able to put my finger on it, I just do. I find it pleasingly solid, energetic and dare I say it, old fashioned.

Grendel, the story, has its moments but building up the cast over small 6 part chunks would work better for me if I could work out who any one was. I had to look up the name of Kapiten Stalov just so I could write it down as an example, there is also the creepy guy in the shadows and the commander woman with the cigar and that’s about it so far. The action this part, the climax of this story, seems to be squashed into the first 2 pages to allow for 3 pages of plot exposition.

All in all I have mixed feelings about the 86ers. It could be good but I don’t think Gordon Rennie has quite got hold of the structure yet. It’s worth persevering with the creative team though; good things look like they will come eventually.  

RC: Over already? Doesn’t seem like six weeks. This has moved at a lovely pace, though as with a lot of Rennie’s work, it ends posing more questions than it answers, as he leaves two plot threads dangling for every one he ties up.

PJ Holden’s art is bloody gorgeous too- look at the fun he’s had with that first panel! Eva’s colouring is nicely subtle and cleverly done, though in some places it errs too far on the side of murky, but this might just be the reproduction. Either way, I think Holden and De La Cruz make a perfect team here, and long may it continue.

And continuing is the problem. It was a long time since the last episode (Christmas Prog, I believe), and even longer since the last series. There’s a lovely momentum building in this strip at the moment, and too long a gap before the next series would damage that - so, sooner rather than later with the next instalment please!

CE: The 86ers: The slow build is coming along nicely, with the promise of massive battle scenes in the immediate future. Rafe is becoming slightly more interesting, less because of her own characterisation (she’s still a female Rogue) but because of where she is; Rogue wanders around doing nothing but shooting Norts with the help of his talking gun, Rafe is stuck in one place with lots of other people having parties she can never join in. The possibilities of her deal with Stalov has me interested too, mainly because it seems to tie in with mad scientist Friedkin and his Old One obsession. 

There’s only downside which undermines the strip though – the big bad Grendel, the dangerous monster that has been picking people off for the whole story, gets killed with one blow. What an anti-climax! 

1666 - Part 10 Script: Pat Mills Art: Leigh Gallagher Letters: Ellie De Ville

There's little worse than a preaching zombie...

Synopsis: Newton pulls Defoe out from the crowd of zombies by hanging a rope ladder from the flying contraption. While sailing through the air, defoe gets the opportunity to kick Cromwell's head from its perch. The zombies are driven back and later, Isaac asks Defoe to look at the blood of the zombies through a microscope. Defoe sees demons in the blood, whereas Jones sees dragons. Newton tells them that the brain can't recognise what's truly there, so makes up its own equivalent. They say it wasn't a comet that flew over London - but something else. Newton also warns Defoe that the new generation of zombies may have new powers - including the ability to appear as someone else...

SD : Defoe is silly. Each week, odd 17th century versions of modern weapons are used to kill zombies as people talk patented Pat Mills nonsense. It’s like the good old days are back again - the 80’s before 2000AD was full of attention grabbing ‘controversial’ subject matter. The structure is unsound (fight - change location - fight again) and the story has gone nowhere in it’s first 10 parts (fight - change location - repeat for 20 years). Given that, much like Greysuit, it doesn’t finish properly it’s no surprise to find it’s coming back for more. These days they will put a ‘the end’ caption on anything.

RC: I have problems with this one too. At ten weeks it has been too long for what has happened. The dialogue ranges from bad to silly. Casual conversations about personal theology while slaughtering an army of zombies with a super gun thing that has appeared from nowhere. And the ticking of another box on the Mills cliché list- the traitorous bad guy former friend didn’t just kill his family- no, he raped his wife too!

Thing is though, on some base level, I kind of like this strip or, rather, I want to. I just have very little idea of what is supposed to be going on. This ‘comet’ which I guess is going to turn out to be a spaceship or something, made the zombies. They all attacked for some reason, and as far as I can tell, three guys in masks fought them all off? Did I get that right?

Meanwhile Isaac Newton is some kind of ‘Q’ to Defoe’s Bond, or a Merlin to his Arthur or something.

Again, as with Greysuit- I love the art. The present Tharg has a gift for matching artists with strips almost perfectly.

And this is coming back too, it seems, even though it feels likes it’s stopped halfway through Defoe’s sentence. 

CE: As with Greysuit, there’s still a flaw with the plot resolution – namely, the zombie hordes get defeated off-panel between the second and third page with no hint of how that was done! That’s very annoying. Defoe booting Cromwell’s head makes up for it though, that’s just classic.  

As a final, it works a lot better than Greysuit: the zombies hordes have been beaten back, Defoe is now Zombie Hunter General, mysteries have been set-up as to what’s going on, and generally the strip’s world, plot & characters are set-up and ready to move forward. The supernatural goings-on – the mysterious Mene Tekel, the mentions of wars in Heaven, the idea that the comet was something else entirely that we can’t comprehend – are drip-fed to the reader quite well. It creates a sense of unease and that something worse could be round the corner, and it gives the strip a story aside from “Roundhead kills zombies!”. Not that the demented zombie violence isn’t fun!  

While Greysuit has some flaws that have divided the readers and Blood of Satanus III is an interesting failure, Defoe is a great success and shows Pat Mills is definitely not a has-been. 

Steven Denton : I wouldn’t say it was a good issue but I’m not screaming for my money back. Probably the worst thing for me was finding out Greysuit is already commissioned for a comeback. How on earth dose it deserve a second run? At least the clean slate leaves me looking forward to next week.

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Richmond Clements : Two good ones, a couple of average ones and one stinker. So, on balance, I’d suggest an average prog. Script ways at least, because the art, on even the worst of the strips in the comic, is still awesome.

Best Story: Judge Dredd

Charles Ellis: Dredd does a good moody one-off, 86ers continues strongly, and Defoe ends in style. Greysuit and Robo-Hunter unfortunately mar the proceedings but three out of five isn’t bad. 

Best Story: Defoe